Facts: Lewis sued Caterpillar in
state court along with Whayne, a local company.The insurance carrier for Lewis’s employer became a plaintiff to try to subrogate
Caterpillar and Whayne for workers’ comp.Lewis settled with Whayne.

Procedural
Posture:
Caterpillar moved for removal upon the settlement between Lewis and Whayne,
saying that the case now had complete diversity between the parties.Lewis argued that Whayne was still a
defendant because they were still getting sued by the insurance company.The district court denied Lewis’s objection
to removal.Liberty Mutual and Whayne
settled before trial.Caterpillar then
won at trial.

Issue: If there isn’t complete
diversity between the parties at the time of removal and the federal courts
hear the case anyway, are their subsequent rulings still good given that there was
complete diversity of the parties at the time of trial?

Rule: Once a case comes to trial
in federal court, general efficiency considerations will trump fairness
considerations in specific cases.